
Report from South Cambridgeshire District Councillor Bill Handley – January 2025
Dog and general waste bins – Windmill Close
I am pleased to report that the dog waste and general waste bins near to the children’s play area on Windmill Close are being adopted by the council’s Shared Waste Service. This should put an end to the unsightly and overflowing bins that have been a feature there for too long. The Shared Waste Service will deliver a more reliable service for everyone and one that is accountable.
Local Government Organisation – Devolution White Paper
The government published a devolution white paper on 16 December. This contained a number of significant proposals that will affect local government. One of the most significant proposals is the creation of unitary authorities to replace the two-tier council system such as exists in our region. It is expected that newly created unitary authorities would have populations exceeding 500,000 but there may be exceptions. The government’s rationale for unitary authorities is that the new model would deliver efficiency savings and service improvements. The paper cites a County Council Network commissioned report, which emphasises that community-level engagement should be maintained despite the larger size of each unitary authority compared with district, borough and city councils. The paper also discusses changes to the way that councils are funded and includes a review of the business rates retention scheme. The government proposes a phased approach to implementation but with an aim that all councils will be unitary by the end of this parliament. We are expecting more information to be rolled out by the government in the coming months.
Drainage, flooding and pollution
SCDC’s Scrutiny and Overview Committee recently discussed local drainage, flooding and pollution. One of the tasks to come out of the meeting was to provide South Cambridgeshire’s residents and parish councils with information and tools to support them, particularly when it comes to flooding. Given the importance of flooding and drainage in parts of Over and the likely interest to residents, I present the highlights here.
Who is responsible for what and who should I contact?
It can be confusing and time-consuming to work out who is responsible for what when it comes to investigating and regulating flooding. This flowchart, produced by Cambridgeshire County Council (the Lead Local Flood Authority) shows the list of responsibilities and contact details.
This should help identify an issue relating to flooding and indicate the contact details of the appropriate organisation.
Watercourse rights and responsibilities
If there is a watercourse on, next to or under a property, then the owner of the property is likely to be the Riparian Owner. The law will assume the property/land owner has riparian responsibilities unless the title deed states specifically to the contrary. Riparian owners are responsible for the maintenance of the watercourse to ensure it flows freely without obstruction, pollution or diversion, including riverbanks. A map of all watercourses in Cambridgeshire is available on the County Council website. You can also read more about rights and responsibilities as a riparian owner.
South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Awarded Watercourse team
Some watercourses are the responsibility of SCDC – known as Awarded Watercourses – and approximately 275 km of open watercourses, culverts, pipes and associated structures fall within their remit.
SCDC often works with Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) on riparian interventions. This is where riparian landowners do not fulfil their maintenance obligations, and the County Council has to intervene to maintain the integrity of the whole system. Often SCDC teams will carry out the work for CCC, with the costs recovered from the riparian owners through enforcement action.
The SCDC Awarded Watercourse team also works with CCC’s Highways teams to provide support to resolve highway issues quickly, using SCDC staff, equipment and local technical knowledge. Often issues are not the responsibility of SCDC, but this collaborative working means issues can be resolved more quickly than would otherwise be the case.
SCDC’s Awarded Watercourse team can give advice and support to parish councils, and other interested local bodies on wider drainage matters generally, including a cause and resolution process. This includes enhancement and support for nature and ecology projects.
Sewer Drainage
Sewer drainage and the related problem that often affects parts of Willingham and Over – contaminated surface water flooding – is the responsibility of Anglian Water. Email Anglian Water at their Public Affairs mailbox on public.affairs@anglianwater.co.uk
SCDC supports the Climate and Nature Bill
SCDC has signalled its support for the Climate and Nature bill which is soon to be debated in Parliament. A motion passed in the December 2024 Full Council meeting agreed that the Council would endorse the bill, which is being introduced by MP for South Cotswolds, Dr Roz Savage. The bill also has support from all three MPs covering South Cambridgeshire. If agreed by the House of Commons and House of Lords, the new bill would lead to several climate and nature goals being enshrined in law, including:
- Requiring the United Kingdom to achieve climate and nature targets.
- Giving the Secretary of State a duty to implement a strategy to achieve those targets.
- The establishment of a Climate and Nature Assembly to advise the Secretary of State in creating that strategy.
- Giving duties to the Committee on Climate Change and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee regarding the strategy and targets.
The motion agreed by South Cambridgeshire District Councillors means the authority joins a list of councils from across the country who have agreed to support the bill as part of the Net Zero Carbon campaign.
Tech4YoungCarers Programme
The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) has recently introduced the Tech4YoungCarers Programme. This initiative is designed to empower young carers (aged 14-25) to thrive both in their educational journey and personal development by providing laptops, internet connectivity, and digital skills training. We are concerned that news of this campaign may not be reaching everyone so we are sharing this information and asking parish councillors to reach out to people in their communities who they think might be supported. More information is available here: Digital Poverty Alliance website.
COVID-19 Day of Reflection 2025
2025 will mark the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government has announced that a UK-wide Day of Reflection, which will take place on Sunday 9 March 2025. More information can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/2x2yau3x and refer queries to: covid.commemoration@dcms.gov.uk
Waste charges consultation
The Environment Agency (EA) has a live consultation on proposals to introduce new regulatory charges for waste activities. One of the objectives of the changes is to increase enforcement activity for ‘envirocrime’ such as fly-tipping – an issue that affects both Willingham and Over.
EA is particularly encouraging the waste, water, and farming sectors to share their views. The consultation closes on 20 January 2025. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/environment-agency-launches-waste-charges-consultation
WorkWell launches in South Cambs
WorkWell – a free programme that helps people who may be struggling to find or keep a job due to health problems, has now launched in our district and SCDC is one of the partners. The attached PDF document explains more. To find out more, visit: https://www.growthworkswithskills.com/employer-hub/workwell/
Contact information for our MP, Ian Sollom
Email: Ian.Sollom.MP@parliament.uk Ian is already active across the constituency and his office staff answer emails as soon as practically possible.
Bill Handley
District Councillor for Over and Willingham
Phone: 01954 200287 (leave a message). Email: cllr.handley@scambs.gov.uk

